Gu Ma took Ajie and Li Mo to their tribe's orchard.
They called it an orchard, but it was really just an area in the heart of the forest.
Exceptionally tall, straight trees grew in the center, their leaves broad and spread wide, curling slightly like enormous bird claws. They didn't just resemble them—they attracted birds too, which was how the Bird Claw Tree got its name.
Strings of pale green, strip-shaped fruits hung among the leaves.
The fruits were about as thick as fingers, growing in clusters like some kind of natural ornament.
Gu Ma led his tribesmen nimbly up the trees. They would get close to the fruit and talk to it.
"How is it? Ready yet? Still not ready? Sigh, you really have no guts."
"Such a sweet voice. You truly are a rare treasure. Let me pluck you and begin the next stage of propagation."
"No, you're still too small. You're still growing. Your voice is sour and muddled. Wait a few more months."
To outsiders, these Ant-Raising People looked as if they were talking to themselves.
They carefully removed strings of ripe fruit from the trees and placed them into the baskets on their backs.
Through the Protective Suit, Li Mo asked, "These trees can't survive anywhere else, can they?"
"That's right. Before I came here, people from many other civilizations had already tried."
Ajie reminded him again, "Young Master Mo, you absolutely can't take off this suit or its protection, and you can't make contact with the locals."
"Especially the women here. Don't touch them."
The locals of Furut were passionate and bold in their ways, and they matured very early. Many of the first people who came here had easily gotten involved with local women, sunk into lust, and ended up contracting